We have recently completed the server move to a dedicated server. This has had a few unexpected knock-on effects for the emails, which are now run entirely in-house.

The reason our email subscribers appear to have dropped from 10,000 to 8,400 is because we are now running two email systems. We have created a seperate trade list for trade subscribers: bookshops, libraries, publishers, etc. As a result they no longer show on the default subscription list for the standard newsletters, but it becomes much easier for us to send dedicated content to. If you are curious, at the time of writing there are 8,411 on the largest of the genre mailing lists, and another 2,592 on the trade list.

Second we discovered a problem with hotmail. When we initially moved the server Yahoo promptly blocked our emails as the IP wasn’t known. We resolved this, only to find that in September, Hotmail/Outlook/MSN had done the same thing. If you are using hotmail and have not received your emails (or been able to sign up for the boards) this is why. We have contacted MSN and emails should now be going through.

The newspaper column is homeless again, and for the same reason: a shake up at the newspaper publisher. If you want to let them know you appreciated the column or request it continues, you can drop the Croydon Citizen a note. Otherwise, if you know a newspaper looking for a free column, let us know!

(Almost unbelievably, and I am not joking, several newspapers actually now charge columnists to supply columns. It isn’t just us, the fee for submitting columns is a specific entry on their rate card!)

Finally, as you may have noticed, our review rate has dropped to one a week. One of our members who handles the formatting and upload is extremely ill with an ongoing condition and can’t use a PC much. We are wishing them all the best for their recovery in the coming months.

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